Torsion bar support for sliding rack



June 11, 1963 c. c. CHRISTEN ETAL 3,093,429

TORSION BAR SUPPORT FOR SLIDING RACK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 17,1962 6 m w M A M; m B A a m m m z 3 -9 5 m N m mg m m n E H F :r: n 2 La. :llllh F S R h mm N 1.wm ma M m a m m ATTORNEYS June 11, 1963 c. c.CHRISTEN ETAL 3,

TORSION BAR SUPPORT FOR SLIDING RACK Filed Jan. 1'7, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet2 INVENTORS 6. Cari/s C/V/S/l] Mitchel J Ma/owch, dn

ATTORNEYS United States TORSION BAR SUPPORT FOR SLIDING RACK CharlesCurtis Christen, Santa Clara, and Mitchel J.

Matovich, Jr., Sunnyvale, Calif., assignors, by mesue assignments, tothe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the NavyFiled Jan. 17, 1962, Ser. No. 166,971 6 Claims. (Cl. 312-331) Thisinvention relates to an electronic console and more particularly to newand improved means for increasing the stability of drawout racks orunits constituting the various functional elements of large scaleelectronic complexes.

More specifically, the invention is constructed and arranged not only tocounteract the difficulty encountered in a vibrational environment butto provide a stimulus for maintaining withdrawn equipment in the desiredrelationship with the containing console.

One of the difliculties heretofore encountered in drawout racks orwithdrawal equipment has been due to weight of such equipment which,when extended, altered the center of gravity of the complete equipmentto such an extent that the tendency to upset the complete equipment isincreased. Moreover, prior systems such as double acting slides and thelike have failed to eliminate this difliculty and also the accompanyingtendency of the weight of the rack to cause it to sag, thus bending thesupportive slides upon which the rack is mounted.

The present invention is particularly adapted to overcome the aforesaiddifficulties such, for example, as sag so commonly found in prior artdevices and in addition thereto, effectively eliminate undue play(mechanical shock) when the structure is placed in a vibrationalenvironment.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improvedmechanism for improving the stability of drawout racks used inelectronic consoles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved deviceutilizing a torsion and rack bar arrangement not only to counteract thedifficulty encountered in a vibrational environment but to also providea stimulus for maintaining the withdrawn rack in the desiredrelationship with the containing console.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improved meansfor supporting and guiding racks or drawers of such characteristic thateven though the racks or drawers are heavily loaded they will moveeasily and without any possibility of wedging or jamming duringwithdrawal thereof and/or sagging thereof when in an extended condition.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this inventionwill be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood byreference to the follow ing detailed description when considered inconnection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a conventional electronic console orcabinet in which the present invention is particularly adapted for use;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1with the drawout rack extended;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of FIG.3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of the torsion bar and rack bar; and

FIG. 6 is a view in perspective of the console with the rack or drawerin an extended condition to illustrate the characteristics of thetorsion bar arrangement.

Referring now by reference characters to the drawings, 10 designates aconventional electronic console or cab- 3,0i3,429 Patented June 11, 1963inet having a plurality of racks 11 or drawers which may be supported byconventional double acting roller assemblies 12 and containingelectronic books constituting the various functional elements of largeelectronic complexes. Since the aforesaid structure is convention,further de' tailed description thereof is deemed unnecessary.

In accordance with the present invention the console 10 is provided witha pair of longitudinally disposed rack bars 13, 13A toothed, as at 14and disposed within a rack receiving cavity or recess 15 formed in theconsole. The rack bars 13 and 13A are disposed in mutual spacedrelationship within the cavity 15 and are secured to supports 16 and 16Acarried by the console in any conventional manner such, for example, asscrews or the like 17.

As more clearly shown on FIG. 2 a vertically disposed torsion bar orshaft 18 is rotatably mounted on the rack 11 at the rear thereof, as bybearings 19 carried by the rack. The bar 18 is provided, at the terminalends thereof with gears 21 and 21A fixed thereto in any suitable mannersuch, for example, as by a pin or the like 22, the gears 21 and 21Abeing in meshing engagement with toothed potrion 14 of racks 13 and 13A.It will be noted in FIGS. 2 and 3 that gear 21 meshes with rack bar 13and gear 21A with rack bar 13A. By the aforesaid arrangement sagging ofthe rack 11 is prevented, as the rack is withdrawn from the console.

The console 10 is further provided with a pair of rack bars 23, toothed,as at 24 and disposed within the recess 15 in the console. The bars 23are disposed in mutual spaced relationship and secured to lowermostsupport 16A in any conventional manner such, for example, as by screwsor the like 26.

A transversely disposed bar or shaft 27 is rotatably mounted on rack 11on the underside thereof, as by bearings 28 carried by the rack. Theshaft 27 is provided at each end thereof with a gear 29 fixed thereto inany suitable manner such, for example, as by a pin or the like 22, thegears 29 being in meshing engagement with the toothed portion 24 ofracks 23.

Referring again to torsion bar 18, the important feature and particularcharacteristics thereof resides in the fact that the bar or shaft ispretwisted or pretensioned in a direction, as indicated by the arrow A,FIG. 5. The pretensioning of the bar may be accomplished in any mannersuitable for the purpose such, for example, as by rotating bar 18 Withinand with respect to gears 21, 21A and thereafter pinning or permanentlysecuring the gears thereto.

By the aforesaid torsion shaft and rack bar arrangement, it will beapparent that as the rack 11 is withdrawn from the recess 15 within theconsole 10, gears 21 and 21A and torsion bar or shaft 18 rotate in amanner similar to any conventional wheel and axle assembly. However, theimportant distinction over the torsion bar assembly of the presentinvention and the conventional wheel and axle assembly is that thepretensioning of the bar 18 results in a definite and pronounceddisposition of the bar to unwind, as indicated by the dashed arrow B,FIG. 5, which tendency acts to force the lower portion of the rack 1. 1outwardly and upwardly, as indicated by the arrow C, FI G. 6. It willalso be understood that the upper portion of rack 11 will tend to beforced upwardly and back into the recess 15 in the console such, forexample, as in the direction indicated by the arrow D, FIG. 6. Theaforesaid pretensioning of the bar 18 prevents sag of the rack socommonly found in present withdrawal equipment and additionally quiteeffectively eliminates undue play (me chanical shock) when the aforesaidstructure is placed in a vibrational environment. It will be furtherunderstood the bar or shaft 27 carrying gears 29 is not usuallypretensioned and merely acts as a non-differential axle assembly tosteady any endwise motion of the rack, as indicated by the arrow B, FIG.6.

While the invention has been shown and described with only one torsionrack assembly, it is to be understood that two or more of theseassemblies may be used, if desired, and positioned in close associationwith both sides of the rack bars 13 and 13A.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that new and improved means havebeen provided for stabilizing drawout racks of an electronic console bythe utilization of a torsion bar and rack bar arrangement thereby tocounteract the difliculty encountered in a vibrational environment butto also provide a stimulus for maintaining withdrawn equipment in thedesired relationship with the containing console.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present inventionare possible in the light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, tobe understood that within the scope of the appended claims the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination of a cabinet having a rack slidably disposed therein,toothed means disposed within and fixed to said cabinet, a torsion barrotatably mounted on said rack and having complementary means fixedthereto in engagement with and movable along said toothed means as thetorsion bar is rotated according to the movement of the rack.

2. The combinaton of a cabinet having a rack slidably disposed therein,toothed means disposed within and fixed to the cabinet, a torsion barrotatably mounted on the rack, gear means fixed to said torsion bar inengagement with and movable along said toothed means as the torsion baris rotated according to the movement of the rack, lsaid torsion barbeing so preloaded so as to prevent vertical displacement of the rack asthe rack is moved in either direction.

3. The combination of an electronic console, a rack slidably disposedwithin said console and carrying a plurality of electronic units, atorsion bar spring rotatably mounted on said rack, a pair of rack barsfixed to and disposed Within said cabinet, a gear secured to eachterminal end of said torsion bar spring in engagement with one of eachof said pair of rack bars, said torsion bar spring and rack barspreventing sag of the rack upon withdrawal thereof from the console andundue motion thereof when subjected to vibrations.

4. The combination of a supporting rack and means for preventing unduesag of the rack as the rack is withdrawn from a cabinet, said meanscomprising a torsion bar rotatably mounted on the rack, a gear fixed toand disposed at the terminal ends of the torsion bar and cooperatingwith one of each of a pair of rack bars carried by and disposed withinthe cabinet.

5. The combination of a cabinet having a rack receiving recess therein,a rack member slidably disposed within said recess, a torsion bar springcentrally disposed and rotatably mounted on the rack member, a pair ofmutually spaced toothed bars carried by the cabinet and centrallydisposed within said recess, a gear secured to each of the terminal endsof said torsion bar in engagement with one of each of said pair of rackbars and operated by the torsion bar in accordance with the movement ofthe rack member into and out of the recess.

6. The combination of a cabinet having a drawer slidably mountedtherein, a plurality of rotatably mounted bars carried by said drawer, aplurality of toothed racks carried by said cabinet, a plurality of gearson said bars and cooperating with said toothed racks, and roller andguide means on the cabinet and drawer to facilitate easy movement of thedrawer in either of two directions, at least one of said bars being sopreloaded as to absorb the tendency of the drawer to change its positionin a vertical direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,214,291 Wyckoif Sept. 10, 1940

1. THE COMBINATION OF A CABINET HAVING A RACK SLIDABLY DISPOSED THEREIN,TOOTHED MEANS DISPOSED WITHIN AND FIXED TO SAID CABINET, A TORSION BARROTATABLY MOUNTED ON SAID RACK AND HAVING COMPLEMENTARY MEANS FIXEDTHERETO IN ENGAGEMENT WITH AND MOVABLE ALONG SAID TOOTHED MEANS AS THETORSION BAR IS ROTATED ACCORDING TO THE MOVEMENT OF THE RACK.